I began my teaching journey 8 years ago. I had been meandering through life, working minimum wage jobs all while applying for *good* jobs that constantly looked me over because I didn't have the right connections or the most suave interviewing skills. A friend recommended that I check out a teaching career. The thought didn't scare me away even though I've never been one of those women who gushes over cute babies and ohhhs and ahhhs over little hands and feet. Despite not having a strong maternal sense, I enjoy helping people learn how to help themselves, so I decided to give it a go.
I got into a good college for my Masters in Teaching and off I went. My first few classes in Teacher Ed wowed me, and I was hooked and became addicted to the *creation* aspect of teaching. I could spend hours and hours getting lost in the fine details of a lesson or unit plan. It was fun and I excelled at it academically.
Fast forward a few years into my first real teaching job. The experience was.... beyond stressful. The emotional demand from the students, boss, coworkers and parents was overwhelming (at this particular school). I no longer had time to tinker with minute details of a lesson plan as I had 16 lessons a day to teach to two different grade levels. Grading papers, going to staff meetings, and dealing with *harsh* personalities all took precedence over my planning time.
Then enter Teachers Pay Teachers.
I don't know how I found the site. I do remember being very skeptical over "purchasing" lesson plans and ideas when I was so good at making them myself. That first year, I just downloaded free lessons, and each one helped me immensely. I moved to a different school my 2nd year of teaching, and now I was obsessed with rewriting my teaching career and being the best teacher I could be. I began purchasing lessons and a sort of magic took over in my classroom. Life became bearable, and I started to love teaching.
At the end of my second year teaching, I thought that I would *attempt* to make my own lesson plans to sell. I'm now at the end of my third year teaching, and I'm thrilled to call myself a TPT seller. I feel like we're an elite group... the best of the best teachers who strive to make lives better for kids everywhere. It's an overwhelming feeling of gratitude to say the least. In honor of that feeling, I decided to do one of my favorite things: make a list about TPT!!
Here are my top 25 reasons I'm happy I found Teachers Pay Teachers
1. The free lesson plans graciously offered by teacher sellers got me through my first year of teaching. It was a financially difficult year, and these free lessons saved me hours of planning time!
2. The lesson plans and activities taught me how to be a better teacher. I didn't know about task cards, scoot games, interactive notebooks, and so many other fun lessons/games before I discovered TPT.
3. TPT has taught me how to analyse my student's curriculum. Once you get a lesson from TPT that really excites and motivates your class, you are constantly looking for that next big lesson idea. I'm much more wary of popping open a boring textbook after finding better resources on TPT.
4. When you shop on TPT, you're getting to look at other teacher's very best work. You get a glimpse inside of teachers you would have never met! You get to see their imagination and ideas shared with the world. I can only describe it as a perfect synergy.
5. Other teachers ideas inspire my own ideas. All thanks to the marketplace created by TPT.
6. Reading about teacher successes just feels good. It's chicken soup for the soul to the nth degree!
7. The teacher sellers are so supportive and helpful to other teacher sellers. I'm not sure of another world where competitors help each other to do better and attain their very best. Can you imagine that happening in any other situation?
8. Learning possibilities are endless on Teachers Pay Teachers. By just reading the seller forums, a person can get an entire education in sales, technology, marketing, social media, product creation.. nearly anything! It's because most teachers want to SHARE information, that's why they're teachers!
9. When you make a purchase on TPT, you can earn 10% of you money back in the form of TPT credits just from leaving productive feedback for other sellers. I can't tell you how many purchases I've made at a huge discount because of my TPT credits. It's an amazing and positive system of rewards for both the buyer and the seller.
10. There's something for every teacher on TPT. Maybe you like playing games or making games...maybe you just like having a pretty classroom like the ones showcased on pinterest... maybe you enjoy writing or you need help teaching it... no matter where you fall in the world of academia, TPT has a place for you! Every subject from K-12.. adult ed, classroom decor, staff development-- there's a place for everyone!
11. Peace of mind. Everyday when I walk into my classroom, prepared or unprepared, I know I can go to TPT and find just what I'm looking for to fill up my day!
12. Favorite sellers. As you start buying on TPT, you will notice that some seller's work you simply cannot live without. TPT makes it easy to follow your favorite seller and get updates on their products as soon as they are released. Most sellers will offer sales and freebies to their followers as well, which is just another reason to follow your favorites!
13. Your purchases stay on your account forever! I cannot tell you how many times I lose things through out the day *my mind included*. When I buy something or even download a free product on TPT, my purchase stays under "my purchases" forever! It's like an entire library at my fingertips whenever I need it. I've purchased nearly 400 lesson plans so far, and I would be lost if they weren't on my TPT account. It's so easy and convenient. There are no other marketplaces that keep track of your purchases and allow you to search through them like TPT.
14. Did I mention TPT found a way to keep track of all your free downloads too?!? This baffles me, but one day I went on to my TPT account to find all my free downloads from years ago organized in chronological order next to my paid purchases! What a miracle!!!
15. When you're a premium seller, TPT give you 85% of your sales. This is a pretty incredible cut compared to other online sales platforms (*cough cough* ebay, etsy)~! My first month (a slow one- June) I made back the premium seller's fee of $60.00 plus more, so it was totally worth it right off the bat!
16. Wish lists! TPT offers a wish list feature. It's helpful for me as a buyer and a seller! As a buyer I can "bookmark" my favorite products for future purchases or comparative shopping and as a seller I can instantly see which products may be successful by how many people have wish listed them. Another win-win for TPT.
17. The Dashboard! As a TPT seller, you become acquainted with your dashboard very quickly. This screen tracks your sales for the day, week, month, quarter, year, and all time. It's one of the most exciting parts of being a seller. Again, I've never experienced so much easy to track data available as I have being a TPT seller. I can find out a plethora of numbers instantly. They take so much work out of being a small business owner. Again: magic!
18. The TPT conference. TPT holds a yearly conference in Las Vegas during July to its premium sellers. At this conference, countless connections and friendships are formed among TPT sellers. It's invigorating and motivational in nature, and I've never heard a single person say they "regret" the conference. Again, the bond between TPT sellers is palpable and genuine. I know many sellers have touched my heart and classroom without ever having met them, so I can't imagine being in the same room with so many of them! Exciting!
19. Corporate Support. TPT's executives frequently talk to the sellers on TPT in the seller forums. They are very *connected* to the buyers and sellers, and it's clear that they have one agenda: to make teachers as successful as they can be. I've never heard of a multi-million dollar company's CEO chatting with one of it's everyday workers, yet Paul Edelman, the creator of TeachersPayTeachers.com, frequently chats with teacher sellers in forum, and he's on a first name basis with many of them. CRAZY!
20. You can track your selling progress by state or country! I'm from a tiny state, and I appreciate knowing the other sellers in my state as well as where I rank with them. Nearly any seller can find their state ranking right away.
21. TPT Newsletter! Every Sunday, TPT sends out a newsletter to all buyers and sellers. In the newsletter, sellers are featured as well as the top ten free downloads for that week. It's a great honor for sellers to be featured in the newsletter, and it's a great place for shoppers to find amazing bargains. Win win!
22. Clip art! Even if you don't sell products on TPT, a little bit of a clever colorful clip art can brighten anyone's day. Before I was a seller, I bought clip art to add to my parent letters and classroom supply lists. Many of my coworkers were dazzled by my work! It wasn't me though, it was the amazing artists on TPT!
23. Imagination As an only child growing up in poverty, I had to use my imagination a lot to keep myself entertained. I LOVE that TPT has created this environment for people like me to be creative. Basically as long as I'm not infringing on someone else's copyrights I can create ANYTHING I feel like...whenever I feel like it... The sky is the limit, and I've found that there is buyer for nearly everything. There is no limit to how big or small my products can be or to how many products I can sell. There are limitless opportunities.
24. Website Ease! TeachersPayTeachers.com is easy to use. It didn't take me long to figure out how to upload a product and get it on the market. After one weekend, I had 12 trial products up and running with ease and little effort except creativity and product descriptions on my part. Anyone can do this!
25. Last but not least. Anyone can become a Teachers Pay Teachers seller. There is even a free option for new sellers that doesn't cost any money to join. I urge you if you are interested in joining this incredible organization, to sign up right now! I've never heard a seller on the forums or anywhere else say that they "regret" signing up! It's addicting, fun, and prosperous. Here's a link in case you're interested! Click here to sign up as a TPT seller!!
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